Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-01-06
Prom Cleveland Frsss.
AN OHIO GIRLS NERVE.
Shooting a Highwayman Dead in his
Tracks,
While Six men Stood by Shaking
From FcaF-ROmance ofa Little
Town Based on Fact-Bravcry
in PetticOats.

The following true story of events.
occurring in 1853, Is related nv n re-
tired practitioner. now Twin" about 80
miles from Cleveland. The characters
are bona fide and their names will he
remembered by many who once knew
them:
"When the parents Of our boys and
girls of the present, were Young, the
belle of an Ohio town was brilliant,
dashing Ida Earl, the only child of in
dulgent parents and the foremost in
pleasure or entertainment. The hOsptia-
BILE home of her parents, always open,
made her leader among the Young peO-
pie. She was not exactly beautiful,
vet her tall splendidly moulded form
and her finely cut features. coupled
with an ever ready and pleasing smile,
won for her all the attention that
could ne desired. Equally well accom-
plished in out door sports as in the
parlor, no skating or riding party was
complete without her. She would race
for miles on her small. white pony with
anyone, or skate like a Canadian.
Among her fathers medical friends
was college chum, who had taken the
California fever, and in San Francisco
had huilt up a large practice. OF course,
DIR. Benedict's son must also he ply
sician, and as California hoasted of no
medical colleges. his son was sent east
for reducation. DR.. Earl invited Fred to
pass his vacations in the pleasant Ohio
town, where, as natural sequence,
the same old story. enacted so often,
was repeated. The young man lost his
heart and he confessed it. but his con-
fession drew another from his confess0r.
How quickly sped those summer days,
so full of pleasure, of merry parties,
picnics in the woods and to the lake.
And the evenings, when sitting in the
hammock or wandering in the moon
light, seemed to Fred the happiest of
his life. DR.. Earl looked with favor
on the young mans suit and at the
proper time gave them his paternal
blessing. The embryo doctor went back
to college with happy heart and ap-
piled himself with renewed vigor to his
studies, bound to make q comfortable
home for his promised bride. The years
flew quickly by and Lida Earl was no
longer the belle of an Ohio town, but the
loving wife of risingyouug DR.. Benedict
i'm Sacramento. She still retained the
joyous disposition of her girlhood, and
many wild gallOp had she taken by
herself far up the winding valley, fear
ing no evil, for the miners all knew and
loved her for her many deeds of kind
ness to the sick. She also carried re-
vOlver, which her husband had taught
her to use skillfulIy. News came to her
one day that the doctor was living sick
Ia I, 80, rDt ,tf, s.,S ,as,
where he had gone on business. Not
wasting moment, thinking only of her
husband, and needless of the perils of a
woman travelling alone in stage coach,
through a wild country, the wife started
for her husbands bedside. In lonely
place, among the mountains, the coach
was halted by highwayman of the
"terror" type, armed with gun, bowie
and revolver. Six brave men, with
chattering teeth and hands held above
their heads, filed out of the coach, fol-
lowed by Mrs. Earl. She began at
once to chide the noble half-dozen
for their lack of spunk, while the high
wayman with a grim sense of humor,
laughingly complimented her for her
courage. At length he commenced op-
eratiOns. and with an oath ordered the
lady to deposit her valuabIes on con-
venient stump. Seeming to be fright
ened by the pistol pointed at her head,
she reached into her pocket, and in a
moment the shinging barrel of a revol-
yer glistened in the moonlight, gIist-
ened only for an instant, then came a
sharp report and the rohber lay dead at
the feet of Lida Earl. Without word
she reentered the stage, her ewes fixed
and the muscles of her face rigidly
drawn. The male passengers did not
speak, their reverence for Il woman
who dared do such deed aweing them
into complete silence. The monoton-
Gus rumble of the wheels became pain
full, still the men only stared at the wo-
man, sitting immovable in the corner.
The laughing, joyous girl who en-
tered the coach at Sacramento, stepped
out of it at San Francisco a calm, quiet
and apparently unaffected woman, but
it was years before she recovered from
the shock. Never afterwards was she
quite the same happy light-hearted
girl" SAM.